National Youth Ballet

Germany's first ever National Youth Ballet has been founded at the beginning of the 2011/2012 theatre season. The company consists of eight professional dancers between the ages of 18 to 23, and has begun work at its new home at the Ballettzentrum Hamburg – John Neumeier. With its own repertoire comprising mainly works by young choreographers, the group will predominantly dance in new spaces – not theatres, but schools, museums, nursing homes and even prisons; spaces in which dance does not usually attract much interest. The National Youth Ballet aims to demonstrate that dance has a social relevance creating a spirit of community and a sense of unity, focussing especially on a young audience. The company has both national and international tours scheduled, hoping to bring people of different backgrounds and characters together through movement and creativity.

BJB-General director John Neumeier summarizes the alignment of the company as follows: "With their own repertoire, which creatively reflects the feelings, awareness and ideas of the young generation, the youth company is an ideal mediator between youth culture, high art and the general public. It also has a valuable social aspect with a positive effect on the non-dance world. We want to tie in with the successes of other junior companies and further increase the awareness of dance as an art form within our society".

People

General Director andArtistic SupervisorJohn Neumeier

Artistic and Pedagogical DirectorKevin Haigen

Managing DirectorYohan Stegli

Ballet MasterRaymond Hilbert

PianistAike Errenst

Contact Press and Public RelationsFrieda Fielers

Event TechnologyAndris AndersonsSimon Zander

Voluntary Social Year in the Field of CultureMalte Bruns

Costume InterpreterSonja Kraft

Head of Administration / Project ManagementSascha Hartmann

The Dancers

Natsuka Abe

Dancer

Natsuka Abe

BORN
July 11, 1997 in Gunma, Japan. Japanese

EDUCATION
Acri Horimoto Ballet Academy
School of the Hamburg Ballet

TEACHERS
Massimo Acri, Miwa Acri, Gigi Hyatt, Leslie Hughes

ENGAGEMENT
National Youth Ballet since 2017

Natsuka grew up in Gunma, Japan and began her dance training at the age of 3. She went to Saitama Dance Academy and to Acri Horimoto Ballet Academy. From 2014 to 2017 she studied at the School of the Hamburg Ballet and joined the National Youth Ballet in 2017.

Rebecca Gollwitzer

Dancer

Rebecca Gollwitzer

BORN
July 6, 1998 in Munich, Germany. German

EDUCATION
Ballet Academy University of Music and Performing Arts Munich
School of the Hamburg Ballet
Rottaini and Merlo international Centre of Arts

Rebecca was born in Munich, Germany and started to dance at the age of four. After finishing her dance training, she worked at the Milano Contemporary Ballet in 2017/18. Rebecca is happy to be part of the National Youth Ballet since 2018.

Madeleine Skippen

Dancer

Madeleine Skippen

BORN
August 31, 1999 in Newcastle (New South Wales), Australia. Australian

EDUCATION
The Vocational Ballet College
Classically Coaching Australia
School of the Hamburg Ballet

Madeleine was born in Newcastle, Australia. She started her classical ballet training in a family owned school at a young age. Later, she decided to further her ballet training and study full time with The Vocational Ballet College, which lead to a relocation to Sydney. After being selected to compete in the Genee International Ballet Competition in London, England, she auditioned for The School of the Hamburg Ballet and in only a few months moved her life to Hamburg to complete her final two years of training. Madeleine is thrilled to join The National Youth Ballet in 2018 and to be working alongside a whole team of inspiring people and artists.

Ida began her dance training in her hometown Dusseldorf at the age of 4. She started her professional dance education at the Royal Ballet School Antwerp, Belgium at the age of 15 where she graduated in 2018. She is excited to be part of the National Youth Ballet since September 2018.

Gabriel Brito

Dancer

Gabriel Brito

Born
February 27, 1997 in Fortaleza, Brazil. Brazilian

EDUCATION
Escola de dança de Paracuru
Escola de Ballet Goretti Quintela
Academy of Dance Mannheim
School of the Hamburg Ballet

Gabriel was born in Fortaleza; he started his ballet training in Paracuru in 2004. 5 years later, he moved back to Fortaleza to train with Goretti Quintela. At the age of 17, he came to Mannheim, Germany to continue his ballet training and joined the School of the Hamburg Ballet 2 years later. At the age of 20, he became part of the Hamburg Ballet as apprentice. Gabriel joined the National Youth Ballet in 2018.

Marcelo started dancing at the age of 12. In 2015, he had the opportunity to compete at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne. Afterwards, he was offered to finish his professional training at the School of the Hamburg Ballet. He thinks that dance is more than just movements. With dance we can emotionally touch people, bring feelings and emotions everywhere. He is looking forward to grow as an artist and as a person with the National Youth Ballet.

Artem started dancing at the of 8 in Napoli. At the age of 15 he moved to Rome to study at Academia di Nazionale di danza. In 2015 he got accepted to the School of the Hamburg Ballet and have since then joined the yearly school performances, performances with the company and the National Youth Ballet.

Emiliano grew up in Paraná, Argentina and began his dance training at the age of 8. In 2013, at the age of 16, he moved to Houston, Texas to continue his ballet training with the Houston ballet academy. Emiliano joined the National Youth Ballet in 2017.